1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to health care devices, and more specifically to apparatuses and methods used to support and to weigh a human while facilitating human waste discharge cleansing or visual inspection of the perineal area of the human body.
2. Art Background
Invalids and mobility-impaired people, hereinafter the mobility-impaired, suffer from an inability to use existing scales, shower, and toilet facilities. Existing scales, used to measure body weight generally require a user to step onto the scale or to sit on a chair in order for the device to perform a body weight measurement. Scales and toilet facilities are designed primarily for independent use by non-mobility-impaired people. Typically, a mobility-impaired person cannot move onto a scale without assistance. The mobility-impaired person usually receives assistance from health care providers in order to use existing scales and toilet facilities. Health care providers accomplish these tasks by moving the mobility-impaired person onto a plurality of existing devices.
A simple task such as wiping a mobility-impaired person clean after discharging waste can require the mobility-impaired person to be tilted uncomfortably forward, to stand in an awkward position, or to be lifted to a bed; thereby, creating additional problems for both the mobility-impaired person as well as the health care worker administering aid. To obtain a weight measurement, the mobility-impaired person is moved to a scale to obtain a measure of body weight. Due to the costs associated with moving a mobility-impaired person from one device to another it is conceivable that the level of health care rendered to a mobility-impaired person is less than desirable due to the expense of having to engage the services of health care workers to perform the tasks of measuring weight and cleaning the perineal and lower spine areas after discharging waste.
A person's body weight fluctuates during the course of the day due to food consumption and waste discharge. As described above, due to the lack of self-mobility, on the part of the mobility-impaired person, weight measurements cost money and expose the health care worker to risk of injury during patient movement on and off of existing measurement devices. These circumstances may combine to predispose the mobility-impaired person from receiving frequent weight measurements that are needed to properly monitor the state of health of a mobility-impaired person.
Mobility-impaired individuals need to have their perineal and lower spinal areas frequently inspected by health care workers for medical reasons. Chief among these medical reasons is inspection of the coccyx (tailbone), sacral and lower spine areas for pressure sores known as Decubitus Ulcers. A Decubitus Ulcer can range from a very mild pink coloration of the skin, which disappears in a few hours after pressure is relieved on the area, to a deep wound extending to and sometimes through internal organs and into bone. The primary treatment regimen for Decubitus Ulcers is prevention through frequent inspection and physical relief through repositioning the mobility-impaired, eliminating pressure and increasing circulation to the affected area. Early, visual detection of pressure sores is central to reducing serious infection; inspection should occur frequently. These wounds occur frequently among the mobility-impaired and are of grave concern. Health care providers go through a cumbersome process of moving a mobility-impaired person to a bed to perform a simple inspection. Health care facilities that fail to provide routine inspections could be considered negligent and risk exposure to liability.
There exists a need to relieve the pressure that causes Decubitus Ulcers. Mobility-impaired people, because of their disabilities, find it difficult to sense points of excessive and prolonged pressure on their bodies. Particularly sensitive areas are the coccyx, sacral, and lower back regions of the skeleton. Prolonged pressure to these areas may lead to skin lesions, open sores, and infection. The key factor in healing Decubitus Ulcers in the early stage is alleviating pressure on the sore area to prevent it from worsening. Shearing or rubbing occurs on the coccyx and sacral area whenever there is friction on the surface of the skin imparted from another surface, be it clothing or a wheel chair seat surface. The combined problems that arise from the existing devices, of pressure imparted to the perineal and lower spinal areas and the dampness resulting from waste deposits can accelerate the formation of Decubitus Ulcers.